How I wore it: color club fame and fortune

I try to wear my polishes based on brand diversity. So when I pick an OPI one day, I’ll try to pick another brand the next day, and that’s when I realized I hadn’t worn color club fame and fortune in, like, forever.

I decided to try to wear it on its own. That works for me – I used three coats, which was necessary, because the base color is a rather sheer red jelly, so visible nail line is to be expected. Luckily, the glitter shreds cover up some of that.

Fame and Fortune was very glittery and sparkly. You can see how it looks in indirect light in my lightbox, so imagine how it looked under office light!

It was really, really cold that day, so instead of taking my coat off, I decided to just open it. Sorry for that. I was wearing a dress from Benetton, which has a color that can’t really be determined: it’s somewhat blue, but then it looks black again… do you know what I mean?

The scarf is from H&M, they had a Marimekko cooperation some years back. I love the pink and orange combination, it is so happy! The coat is a present from another M.!

The earrings are from a cute little shop in the first district, next to MAK. I totally forgot the name… I’m getting old. The boots are from Amsterdam. How awesome are pink boots!!

For the face, I used the usual. Chanel Mascara, Inglot foundation and blush, and this time I picked Chanel Rose Dentielle for my lips. I love it because it looks as if I don’t wear lipstick, but as if I naturally looked awesome. Plus it smells nice.

These are my keys. This is useless information, but I don’t know what else to say anymore. Oh, true, I forgot to mention that I really loved fame and fortune until I removed it, because that took forever (aka it felt as if it took 5 hours).  

essence Vintage District TE

A bit later than usual, the essence Vintage District TE. To my defense, I got a very distracting parcel full of nail polish from my uber-swap-amie, M. I swatched all of the polishes on nail wheels yesterday – just so you know, I needed 6 almost full nail wheels.  Also, I got my first Urban Decay eye pencil, and it is awesome. I’ll most probably show it to you soon.

Before I start, let me say that I was not very interested in this trend edition, so first I thought I’d let it be, but then J. called and asked me if I want any of these polishes, because she found a full display, and I couldn’t pass up on that occasion. So here it comes!

essence Vintage Peach is most probably one of the ugliest polishes that passed my hands. It covers fully in two coats and applies just fine, but what kind of color is that supposed to be? Sweet potatoe peel puke? The only question I had circling in my mind when I swatched this, was, WHY?

I made a little comparison on the sticks for you (Please let me know if you find this helpful!):
Del Sol Trick or Treat – essence A piece of forever – Catrice Paris – essence Vintage Peach – essence peaches – essence happy – Revlon Fig Jam

Well, it doesn’t get much better with essence Antique Pink. I have long sworn off colors like this, because, well, it’s obvious. I don’t think this color will become a retro-kind-of-cool, this will never be cool. 3 coats, formula was a bit of a pain for me.

  Now, finally I can breathe again! essence Get arty made it all good again. Color wise it is somewhere between a very murky camouflage green and grey, but the shimmer it is infused with makes it outstanding. It made me think of some Rescue Beauty Lounge polish, but I can’t pinpoint it. Formula was super, 2 coats, and the shimmer is just so beautiful!

And for those of you who love colors such as nails inc Baker Street, you will love this:essence shopping @portobello road. Vibrant blue with a squishy jelly look, even though it covers entirely after two coats. It is easy to apply and didn’t stain my nails, which I feared it would. Also it is amazingly shiny without topcoat! A winner in my books.

Again, a stick-comparison, from left to right:  
H&M No Mambo Jumbo - Cult Nails Let me Fly -p2 funky - SOPI Who let the dorks out? – Catrice San Francisco – Maybelline Shocking Seas – essence life is a free ride – SOPI Skinny Jeans -  OPI Teal the Cows come home - essence shopping @ Portobello Road – Catrice Birds Flying High – YSL La Lacque 137 – Illamasqua Muse – essence bonnie – Catrice No Snow Petrol

What do you think about this TE? Half hot, half not, right?

Knockwurst Babes

(excuse the absolutely weird title, but my other option was Knockwurst Toyland, and that sounded so dirty.)

The other day I was wearing OPI My very first Knockwurst, which looks a bit like meat spread, if you ask me. I like to wear it every once in a while, because it is really simple and clean-looking. Somehow I thought I showed you this already, but I haven’t… I did wear this surprisingly often since I got it. 2 coats.

When I came home from work that day, my ILNP order arrived. I bought Babes in Toyland (and some other stuff, but that’s for later!), which I immediately had to put on my tips! You can buy ILNP here and follow on facebook. Babes in Toyland is a multi-glitter topcoat, that I absolutely loved. It consists of gold, pink, green, teal and purple glitters in different sizes and shapes. I used one coat.

For work, I decided that the sparkle was a bit too much, so I decided to make a jelly sandwich out of it. I picked OPI You callin’ me a lyre?, which is a super sheer jelly in a neutral pink (not that the color matters when it’s so sheer!). It is perfect for sandwiches! 

I used two coats over Babes in Toyland, and I love the outcome! Don’t you?

How I wore it: Sephora My favourite Jeans

Soooooo today is a post to remember the good times one has in summer, when one has vacation… One was in Amsterdam, and one went to the beach in Ijmuiden (which is nominated for the ugliest village name).

One is me, obviously, and I was wearing Sephora My favourite Jeans which is a royal blue jelly/creme polish. It is super glossy, and covers in two coats.

Jelly/Creme hybrids don’t fully cover like cremes do, but instead they dry so glossy and squishy-looking, that one doesn’t mind.

Dutch beaches aren’t beach beaches, they’re more enjoyable for a walk than for a swim. Mainly, because it is usually terribly cold in summer, or it rains. There may be semi-warm days, but it doesn’t really get hot – or at least never, when one is there.

That day was especially windy and cold for a summer day (it was July…), so we decided to only take a short walk. There were so many seagulls around, it was as if I was Nemo… but they were mainly after a little girl, who was barely taller than the seagulls. It was funny to watch, but the poor little girl got frightened, and rescued by her family.

So why visit the beach in the Netherlands? Well, there are many really cute little cafes and restaurants at the seaside. The seafood is obviously delicious too, and also, we saw a couple of impressive thunderstorms.

I was wearing black pointy ballerinas from The Gap, turquoise pants from Uniqlo, white shirt from Uniqlo too. The cardigan is from H&M, but it started to dissolve, so it is no longer mine.

So, do you like beaches even if the weather doesn’t allow you to swim?

IsaDora News

I came home after my holiday to find so many awesome things waiting for me (one of them being my friend B.), that I couldn’t decide what the best one was. But I’m absolutely certain that these two collections from IsaDora were- no, still are! – on top of the list. Polar Nights, Arctic Treasure and North Star are from the Northern Lights holiday collection, the rest is from the Jewels of the Orient Collection.

I decided to show you all but one polish today. So maybe grab a cup of coffee first, as this is going to be a loooooong post!
I just want to mention that the application was a dream. I love the short, wide IsaDora brushes, and the formula of these polishes was so creamy and buttery, I was amazed. Again. IsaDora polishes aren’t really cheap at 10€ a piece, but they are well worth it, especially since they’re working hard on expanding their line and making some unique and mind-blowing polishes.

IsaDora 741 Black Amethyst is a shimmery purple polish. It is a blackened purple, so it is really dark. I’m not the biggest purple lover in the world, but I’m sure that if you love purple, you will love this polish. I’m showing you one coat. Yes, honestly, one.

 

IsaDora 745 Persian Princess is a medium purple shimmer. It is one of those purples that freak out my camera, so the real color is somewhat between the pictures. I used two coats for this.

IsaDora 751 Arctic Treasure over essie jamaica me crazy. I used one coat – Arctic Treasure is a golden glitter polish, which I think everyone should have. At least either a golden or a silver glitter topper! I personally prefer the small glitters, so I love this. Adds the necessary sparkle!

IsaDora 749 North Star over Make Up Store Marcus. The twin brother of Arctic Treasure – a fine silver glitter topper. I used one coat, and I can’t decide which one I like better. It’s so hard to find just one colored one sized glitters these days, and finally there’s the answer! 

My two favourites from this collection are, surprisingly, the blues. I have kept one color aside, a flaming red, but more on that later! IsaDora 750 Polar Night is a royal blue jelly packed with a mix of small round and larger hexagonal silver glitter. I absolutely adore it, it looks like the night sky! I used two coats, and look how sparkly it is! As an extra, I added a close up of my nail – please let me know in the comments if you like to see close-ups of glitters like that!

IsaDora 746 Silk Road is another winner in my books. I can’t even name all the colors in this polish – I can see some yellow and green and shades of blue, maybe some purple too? This polis is so eclectic, it’s hard to say. I used two coats, and I couldn’t stop staring at this beauty. sigh… 

 

 

 

Which one is your favourite?

The products in this post were provided to me for my honest review.

How I wore it: Sephora my favorite jeans & PUPA M202 & KIKO 230

When we spent the weekend in Amsterdam this summer, I found a duo of nail polishes by PUPA. One of them seemed perfect to enhance the life span of Sephora My favourite jeans, which I had been wearing previously.

I decided to layer one coat of PUPA M202 over My favourite jeans (a dark blue jelly). PUPA M202 is a dark blue very sheer jelly polish, interspersed with holographic particles that glitz and glisten at your every move.

Over the tips I loosely applied KIKO 230 (Sparkle Touch Rainbow Glitter) so the whole manicure looked a bit like a gradient.

I love glitter gradients, and I wear them too seldom. A little glitter makes my day much happier

In fact, when I was waiting for my picture to be taken (the one below in particular), I realised a huge spider on the back leg of the chair so I decided to move to the front and look away - ready to get up in case the spider decided to come my way. I hate spiders, they really creep me out. Snakes too and other animals that have too long legs in my opinion.

The garden looks enchanted though in these pictures – it rarely is so overly green and full of blossoming plants but this year, both spring and summer have been good to the pants.

The ring I’m wearing is from H&M, it shows two birds sitting on it. I have it in a golden color too, and I think it’s so cute!

The dress is from Nümph. I’ve had it for a long time now, but the skirt part of it is very short, so I only wear it for going out or with thick, non-transparent tights.

Let me know what you think in the comments!

The Prize of very cranberry

It has been to long since I showed you a Nubar polish, so today I have one for you!

I started this manicure with two coats of essie very cranberry. It is one of these essie shades that I can’t decide on – do I like it or does it bore the cranberries out of me? The shade itself is very close to the color of a cranberry, maybe a bit lighter. The intense silver shimmer that is visible in the bottle merely transfers to the nail as a silver hue.

Over this, I decided to layer Nubar Prize. Prize is a jelly red polish, similar in color to very cranberry. I tried before to wear it on its own, but it never really looks opaque, because it is too sheer. Instead, I wore one coat over the essie polish, and that looks much better. Prize is not only a red jelly as you can see, but also it is packed with holographic glitters – small round ones and bigger hexagonal ones. They shimmer so beautifully different, depending on how the light hits them, and add great sparkle to this manicure.

Do you like very cranberry? And what about Prize, holographic glitter in a red jelly base – yay or nay?

Crimson Tattoo and Cauldron Drippings

I have a weakness for jellies, not because they cover so little, but because when you get them to cover, they look so squishy and glossy. Just so you know!

Jessica sent me two of their winter collection polishes, one of which is Crimson Tattoo It looked like a chocolate brown in the bottle and I had decided not to like it even before I tried it. Well, as I am a good blogger, I put it on all of my fingers anyhow – wearing polish for a day is how I try to find out if I like it or not. When I did have it on all my nails, it turned out not to be a chocolate brown, but a super deep and dark vampy red jelly. I used two coats – one was really sheer, but the second did the trick – and I must say, I am positively surprised!

I have been itching to try out my lynnderellas – some of them have been standing in my not-so-secret Alex shelf (yes, Alex. I refuse the Helmer!) for quite some time, but every time I take them out, I think, oh, what if it isn’t the right base color, what if it will not look as good as I want it to. But Crimson Tattoo seemed to be a perfect base for lynnderella Cauldron Drippings, so I just took a deep breath and went for it (it=one coat). Despite all the lynnderella dramas, I love this polish. Only down side is, that the string glitters start curling and poking through the topcoat after only a day.

 

Jessica products were sent to me by the PR company of Jessica Cosmetics for my honest review. You can purchase Jessica polishes through their website. All other products were bought by me or received in a swap.

How I wore it: essie Head Mistress

I have a bit of an unanswered love relationship with essie: I usually want the colors to work on me, but either the color turns out to be flat out boring or dupable, or the quality turns me off. Somehow, essie and I have had a bit of a dry spell in the past.

Luckily for me, I received essie Head Mistress in the mail a few weeks ago – well, it wasn’t love at first sight, but since we’re somewhat of an old couple sleeping in seperate bed rooms, it wasn’t expected, really. I decided to wear Head Mistress (2 coats) for work (you know, red and all, easy, etc.) and I enjoyed wearing it surprisingly much! So much actually, that I decided to keep it – I had already planned to let it sleep in the other bedroom, but we’re friends turned lovers, so it’s got to stay.

Well. I had the genius idea to stamp over it – less genius was my choice of stamping polish. I tried Catrice Wild Wild Westside from the Upper Wild Side LE - it works, but not too good over red. I’ll call this the mother of all subtle stamping.

And this is How I Wore It – I wasn’t wearing jeans to work, in case you wondered, but I went to meet friends later, so I quickly changed. The jeans are from WE, which is my favourite store to buy jeans. They always fit!

The t-shirt is also from WE. It’s made from Chiffon in the front and has all these little dove shapes on. I hate doves (flying rats, really), but I pretend those are other birds.

The cardigan is from UNIQLO, the ring is from Disneyland and the shoes are from Monsoon. The lipstick I’m wearing is from Inglot. If you’re interested to know which number, leave me a comment, and I’ll check!

Here is was waiting for J to get the camera settings ready. I would’ve looked a bit nicer if I knew my pic was being taken!

essie Head Mistress was sent to me by the PR team of  L’óreal Austria for free to review. All other products were bought by me or received in a swap.

Fire on my nails!

Today I’m showing you a polish combination that is very good on one side and very bad on the other.

Let’s start with the positive side: I seldomly got so many compliments on my manicure. I was wearing two coats of watercolors deep red, a nail polish company I was trying out for the first time. The red itself isn’t all too exciting, it is a medium red, not unique at all. The application was super easy, two coats left just a hint of VNL, but nothing that bothered me.

The only real problem, and that’s the very very bad part, was that it stained like I’ve never seen before. When I took it off after 2 days of wearing it, my nails were bright tomato red. I had been wearing basecoat, and I eventually was able to buff it out of my nails, but I was very, very unhappy. I woudn’t recommend this red and to be honest, I’m somewhat reluctant trying other polishes from watercolors.

Before I knew about the staining, and after a day of the red only, I layered [pahlish] Fire in the Taco Bell over it. Just when I was writing this post I realised that there is a [pahlish] polish called Little Caroline – I must have it!

Anyhow, Fire in the Taco Bell is a red jelly polish filled with glitters – square, hex and round of all sizes, in purple, red and pink. I used one coat of Fire in the Taco Bell and then one coat of Seche Vite, and it was completely smooth. Random people I didn’t know complimented me on this manicure, that’s how pretty it was!

Do you have any polishes by [pahlish]? Which ones are your favourites?

Thank you to zalando.at for sending me the watercolors polish for free to review.  All other products were bought by me or received in a swap.